Most people like new toys and come on the boards to rave about a recent purchase. The sad part is watching these same amps go up for sale 6 months later. I truly believe it takes years for a guitarist to "connect" with an amp.
So here is my review of the Rectoverb after two years of ownership....
NOTE !!! I've checked youtube for user demonstations of the ROV and most players only seem to be concerned with nuclear levels of distortion. (A blurry mess if you ask me). Dont get me wrong, I love the red channel, but if you are only concerned with distortion at "11", my review is not for you. We use amps differently and my opinion wont help you.
I've been playing the guitar for well over twenty years and would consider myself to be an advanced player. I grew up with Van Halen, Zeppelin, etc... (still warm up my fingers with Eruption)... As I grew older my taste in music has changed and I am now going back to the old blues. At the moment, my rectoverb is being used for 90% blues, and an occasional romp on the red channel. The blues covers a LOT of tones, from clean, dirty, and more modern distortion levels.
Guitars:
Stratocaster Deluxe V neck. (single coil pickups) 10 gauge strings
Old Classic Kramer Imperial-early 80's. (Floyd Rose, Double coils) 9 Guage strings.
Add ons:
Mesa recto cabinet 2x12 closed.
THIS AMP IS PERFECT FOR ME ! many will call this a metal amp, but the variety of incredible tones constantly amazes me. I brought this thing home and used the instant gratification settings in the manual and have not strayed far away from these on all channels. I've found the tone control on my Strat along with pickup selections allows for a huge variety in tone...There are so many to choose from!
Blues !!!! Dammit I swear this thing was made for blues...Clean neck pickup tones are so sweet with old t-bone walker guitar licks ! Moving up to raw adds a very nice "dirty sound" that many here might not appreciate but I love. You really need to get off the high gain for a while to see how much magic this amp has....Not your thing? I guarantee one demonstration by me could change your opinion. Of both of the dirty channels..
Clean sound? OK, not as sparkly and bright as some, but dont let that get you down. It does clean sounds in its own way and very very well !!!! I've owned this amp for 2 years and still have many clean tones yet to discover.
And for the metal heads....Come on now....Why the hell would you ever need a distortion pedal? In fact, I really think they over did it a bit. This thing goes to "19" as far as metal goes.....Turn the gain down and get used to it on the red channels. You'll find less can be more when it come to metal "crunch".....Too much distortion takes the bite out of your metal believe it or not...And always remember, things are different with a bass player on board. Try vintage at 11:00-12:00 for a while and see if I'm onto something.
Anyway I am completely happy with this amp. It does SO MANY Things well !....
I rate this amp an 11 on a scale of 1-10......................Love it, dont need anything else.
To reader: Please excuse my "preaching" when it some to distortion. I just think its important to realize these amps DO SO MANY OTHER THINGS THAN THE BLURRY MESS MANY PLAY WITH-----(All the time) But hey, its your amp, do what you want.
So here is my review of the Rectoverb after two years of ownership....
NOTE !!! I've checked youtube for user demonstations of the ROV and most players only seem to be concerned with nuclear levels of distortion. (A blurry mess if you ask me). Dont get me wrong, I love the red channel, but if you are only concerned with distortion at "11", my review is not for you. We use amps differently and my opinion wont help you.
I've been playing the guitar for well over twenty years and would consider myself to be an advanced player. I grew up with Van Halen, Zeppelin, etc... (still warm up my fingers with Eruption)... As I grew older my taste in music has changed and I am now going back to the old blues. At the moment, my rectoverb is being used for 90% blues, and an occasional romp on the red channel. The blues covers a LOT of tones, from clean, dirty, and more modern distortion levels.
Guitars:
Stratocaster Deluxe V neck. (single coil pickups) 10 gauge strings
Old Classic Kramer Imperial-early 80's. (Floyd Rose, Double coils) 9 Guage strings.
Add ons:
Mesa recto cabinet 2x12 closed.
THIS AMP IS PERFECT FOR ME ! many will call this a metal amp, but the variety of incredible tones constantly amazes me. I brought this thing home and used the instant gratification settings in the manual and have not strayed far away from these on all channels. I've found the tone control on my Strat along with pickup selections allows for a huge variety in tone...There are so many to choose from!
Blues !!!! Dammit I swear this thing was made for blues...Clean neck pickup tones are so sweet with old t-bone walker guitar licks ! Moving up to raw adds a very nice "dirty sound" that many here might not appreciate but I love. You really need to get off the high gain for a while to see how much magic this amp has....Not your thing? I guarantee one demonstration by me could change your opinion. Of both of the dirty channels..
Clean sound? OK, not as sparkly and bright as some, but dont let that get you down. It does clean sounds in its own way and very very well !!!! I've owned this amp for 2 years and still have many clean tones yet to discover.
And for the metal heads....Come on now....Why the hell would you ever need a distortion pedal? In fact, I really think they over did it a bit. This thing goes to "19" as far as metal goes.....Turn the gain down and get used to it on the red channels. You'll find less can be more when it come to metal "crunch".....Too much distortion takes the bite out of your metal believe it or not...And always remember, things are different with a bass player on board. Try vintage at 11:00-12:00 for a while and see if I'm onto something.
Anyway I am completely happy with this amp. It does SO MANY Things well !....
I rate this amp an 11 on a scale of 1-10......................Love it, dont need anything else.
To reader: Please excuse my "preaching" when it some to distortion. I just think its important to realize these amps DO SO MANY OTHER THINGS THAN THE BLURRY MESS MANY PLAY WITH-----(All the time) But hey, its your amp, do what you want.